A large helping of chocolate candy bars helped Mackenzie Aikens, a fifth grade student at J.K.L. Bahweting, harvest her first game animal on Sept. 14.

“I shot it in the neck,” said the young hunter, adding that her dad, Andy Aikens, had taught her a thing or two about shot placement before they headed out to their blind. “He said, ‘They won’t run away; they just tip over and fall’.”

The pair was hunting with a family friend on a camp in Delta County and had been hunkered down for a approximately four hours before they had their first visitor.

The wait paid off when, at 7:37 p.m., the black bear came wandering in to the bait.

Armed with a .270 caliber rifle, Aikens admitted the scoped-firearm packs a powerful wallop on her 11-year-old frame.

“I didn’t like to shoot it,” she said, “but I toughed it out.”

Her lone shot was a good one and things went exactly the way her father planned as the bruin, which dressed out at 130 pounds, dropped in its tracks.

Mackenzie said her first bear was taken to a processor where it was carefully skinned in preparation for a half-mount to commemorate the young hunter’s achievement. While she may be excited to see her trophy on the wall at some point in the future, Mackenzie gave every indication that she was really looking forward to eating the meat — especially bear jerky — throughout the winter.

The 2012 hunting season has already been better than 2011.

“I hunted deer last year, but I didn’t get anything,” she said. “This is the first thing I’ve ever got.”

Jessica said the family relies on meat harvested in the fall throughout the winter months and that Andy was still trying to harvest a bear of his own.

MacKenzie, from all indications, will also be seeking a rematch with the white-tailed deer that bested her last fall.

And, if her marksmanship is any indication the deer will likely come out on the losing end this time around.